"Harry Potter" actress Emma Watson is taking a break from acting in order to focus more on feminism and reading.
"I'm taking a year from acting to focus on two things, really," she told Paper magazine during a conversation with Bell Hooks. "My own personal development is one. I know that you read a book a day. My own personal task is to read a book a week, and also to read a book a month as part of my book club. I'm doing a huge amount of reading and study just on my own."
"I almost thought about going and doing a year of gender studies, then I realized that I was learning so much by being on the ground and just speaking with people and doing my reading," Watson continued. "That I was learning so much on my own. I actually wanted to keep on the path that I'm on. I'm reading a lot this year, and I want to do a lot of listening."
Watson's focus on reading is nothing new. Earlier this year, the Brown University alum revealed that she planned to start a feminist book club called "Our Shared Shelf" last month. The first book the group read was "My Life on the Road" by Gloria Steinem and the book they are currently reading is "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.
During her break from acting, Watson also plans to continue her feminist work as the UN Ambassador for HeforShe, according to People.
"I'm on my journey with this and it might change, but I can tell you that what is really liberating and empowering me through being involved in feminism is that so much of the self-critiquing is gone," she said during the discussion. "Engaging with feminism, there is this kind of bubble now that goes off in my head where these really negative thoughts about myself hit where I'm able to combat them in a very rational and quick way."
Before taking her acting break, Watson will appear in two films, including "The Circle" with Tom Hanks and Disney's live action film "Beauty and the Beast," where Watson plays Belle.
